Four Oscars For ‘Poor Things’
“Poor Things” was one of the big winners at last night’s Academy Awards. The feature film from Fremantle’s Irish subsidiary Element Pictures prevailed in four categories. First and foremost, lead actress Emma Stone received the coveted Oscar statue in the “Best Actress” category. The film picked up additional awards for “Best Production Design/Scenic Design,” “Best Make-up/Hairstyling,” and “Best Costume Design.”
It was a triumphant evening for Element Pictures, Fremantle, RTL Group, and all of Bertelsmann. The Irish production company’s feature film “Poor Things” scooped four Oscars at last night’s glamorous Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood, the most important night in international film. The highly acclaimed film was the evening’s big winner after “Oppenheimer.” “Poor Things” had entered the race with eleven nominations.
First and foremost, lead actress Emma Stone received the coveted Oscar statue in the top category “Best Actress.” “Oh boy, this is really overwhelming,” said a visibly moved Emma Stone as she accepted her award and thanked everyone who worked on the film. “Poor Things” also picked up three more awards, for “Production Design/Scene Design,” “Make-up/Hairstyling,” and “Costume Design.” For the latter award, presenter Jimmy Kimmel brought (almost) naked wrestler John Cena on stage. To much laughter from the audience, he alluded to the famous “streaker” performance that took place 50 years ago. During the 1974 Academy Awards ceremony, a naked man suddenly ran across the stage, causing a real scandal.
Based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, “Poor Things” tells the fantastic story of Bella, a young Victorian woman played by Emma Stone. After her suicide, Bella is brought back to life by her guardian, the unconventional scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), but alas – she now has the mind of a small child. Bella embarks on a quest to find herself, always in search of the life experience she is missing. Among others, she meets Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a lawyer who shows her the world beyond science and takes her on a wild adventure across several continents. But the life of Baxter’s student Max McCandless (Ramy Youssef) also suddenly changes when he meets Bella and she literally tears him away from his sheltered existence. Bella gradually discovers her passion for social justice and liberation and is eventually able to free herself from her own constraints and leave prejudice behind.
“Poor Things” had already won two Golden Globes in mid-January: “Best Motion Picture,” and “Best Female Actor” for Emma Stone – both in the “Musical or Comedy” category. In February, the genre-defying film went on to win five BAFTAs, Britain’s foremost film awards. Element Pictures premiered the film at the Venice Film Festival in September 2023, where it was immediately awarded the prestigious Golden Lion.
